Phytochrome mediated induction of nitrate reductase activity in etiolated maize leaves

The effects of red and far-red light on the enhancement of in vitro nitrate reductase activity and on nitrate accumulation in etiolated excised maize leaves were examined. Illumination for 5 min with red light followed by a 4-h dark period caused a marked increase in nitrate reductase activity, whereas a 5-min illumination with far-red light had no effect on the enzyme activity. The effect of red light was completely reversed by a subsequent illumination with the same period of far-red light. Continuous far-red light also enhanced nitrate reductase activity. Both photoreversibility by red and far-red light and the operation of high intensity reaction under continuous far-red light indicated that the induction of nitrate reductase was mediated by phytochrome. Though nitrate accumulation was slightly enhanced by red and continuous far-red light treatments by 17% and 26% respectively, this is unlikely to account for the entire increase of nitrate reductase activity. The far-red light treatments given in water, to leaves preincubated in nitrate, enhanced nitrate reductase activity considerably over the dark control. The presence of a lag phase and inhibition of increase in enzyme activity under continuous far-red light-by tungstate and inhibitors of RNA synthesis and protein synthesis-rules out the possibility of activation of nitrate reductase and suggests de novo synthesis of the enzyme affected by phytochrome.     

Ontogeny of Stomata on the Foliar and Floral Or{dot}gans of some Species of Crotalaria L.

The structure and development of stomata in eight species ofCrotalaria belonging to the family Papilionaceae are described.The study is mostly confined to the leaves but it has also beenmade on the floral organs of C. mysorensis, C. retusa, C. sericea,and C. triquetra. The stomata may be paracytic, anisocytic,anomocytic, diacytic, or with one subsidiary cell. The differenttypes occur individually or they are placed side by side evenon the same surface of an organ. In general the paracytic typeis by far the commonest, followed by anisocytic and anomocyticones. Diacytic stomata and those with one subsidiary cell arerelatively rare. Different types of stomata in various organsof the same plant develop mesogenously. The present investigationalso indicates that the inconstancy of stomata in the familyis due to (a) their diversity and (b) an increase in the numberof subsidiary cells either by their division or by the neighbouringperigenes becoming subsidiary cell-like.     

Development of Normal and Abnormal Stomata in some Araliaceae

The present investigation describes the ontogeny of normal andabnormal stomata for three species of the Araliaceae. The maturestomata are mostly anisocytic, occasionally paracytic, and rarelyanomocytic. Several aberrent patterns of stomatal developmenthave been noticed in anisocytic stomata and a few in paracyticones. The ontogeny of anisocytic and paracytic stomata conformsto the syndetocheilic or mesogenous type, while that of anomocyticis haplocheilic or perigenous.     

Prevalence of helminth parasites in three species of cichlids from a man-made lake in Zambia

A study of certain aspects of two man-made lakes at the University of Zambia Lusaka Campus was carried out. The three species of cichlids with which the lakes were stocked: Tilapia rendalli (Boulenger, 1896); Oreochromis (formerly Tilapia ) macrochir (Boulenger, 1910) and O. (formerly T. ) andersonii (Castelnau, 1896) were examined for helminth parasites.
The most numerous was Cichlidogyrus Paperna, 1960; followed by Acanthogyrus (Acanthosentis) tilapiae Baylis, 1948. A few metacercarial cysts of Clinostoman Leidy, 1856; a few cysticercoids of Paradilepis delachauxi Fuhrm, 1909 and a single specimen of a probable new genus of Monogenea (near Diplozoon Nordmann, 1832) were also found.
The prevalence and seasonal variation in numbers of the two most common parasites are discussed in relation to parasite loads in different ages and sexes of the host fish.     

Effect of Cytokinin and Moisture Stress on Cell Expansion Growth of Etiolated Cotyledons of Sponge-gourd (Luffa cylindrica) Roxb.

Cell enlargement was studied in the isolated cotyledons of sponge-gourd(Luffa cylindrica) to evaluate the effects of benzyladenineand moisture stress, singly and in combination, on the componentsof cell-expansion growth in darkness. In cytokinin-treated cotyledons,growth at the maximum elongation phase was found to be closelyrelated to a distinct acidification of the incubation medium,increase in cell-wall extensibility and a drop in turgor pressure.Benzyladenine proved antagonistic to moisture stress which inhibitedgrowth of the cotyledons by restricting proton extrusion aswell as cell-wall extensibility. The results of the presentinvestigations are consistent with the ‘acid growth’theory, and provide the experimental evidence that cytokinin,contrary to moisture stress, accelerates cell expansion in thedark by an acid-growth mechanism. Cucurbits, cell enlargement, cell-wall extensibility, acid growth     

Induction of bacterial blight (Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae) resistance in rice by treatment with acibenzolar-S-methyl

The role of the plant defence activator, acibenzolar‐S‐methyl (ASM), in inducing resistance in rice against bacterial leaf blight caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) was studied. Application of ASM induced resistance in rice to infection by Xoo. When the pathogen was clip‐inoculated to the rice plants, it caused bacterial leaf blight symptoms in the untreated control. However, in the rice plants pretreated with ASM, infection was significantly reduced. Induced systemic resistance was found to persist for up to 3 days in the pretreated rice plants. Increased phenolic content and accumulation of pathogenesis‐related (PR) proteins, viz. chitinase, β‐1,3‐glucanase and thaumatin‐like protein (TLP; PR 5) were observed in rice plants pretreated with ASM followed by inoculation with Xoo. Immunoblot analysis using rice TLP and tobacco chitinase antiserum revealed rapid induction and over‐expression of 25 and 35 kDa TLP and chitinase, respectively, in rice in response to pretreatment with ASM followed by Xoo inoculation. Based on these experiments, it is evident that induction of disease resistance in rice was accelerated following treatment with ASM.     

PprA,a pleiotropic protein for radioresistance,works through DNA gyrase and shows cellular dynamics during postirradiation recovery in Deinococcus radiodurans

PprA, a pleiotropic protein involved in radioresistance of Deinococcus radiodurans was detected in multiprotein DNA processing complex identified from this bacterium. pprA mutant expressing GFP-PprA could restore its wild type resistance of γ radiation. Under normal conditions, GFP-PprA expressing cells showed PprA localization on both septum trapped nucleoids (STN) and nucleoids located elsewhere (MCN). Cell exposed to 4 kGy γ radiation showed nearly 2 h growth lag and during this growth arrest phase, the majority of the cells had GFP-PprA located on MCN. While in late phase (～120 min) PIR cells, when cells are nearly out of growth arrest, PprA was maximally found with STN. These cells when treated with nalidixic acid showed diffused localization of PprA across the septum. gyrA disruption mutant of D. radiodurans showed growth inhibition, which increased further in gyrA pprA mutant. Interestingly, gyrA mutant showed ～20-fold less resistance to γ radiation as compared to wild type, which did increase further in gyrA pprA mutant. These results suggested that PprA localization undergoes a dynamic change during PIR, and its localization on nucleoid near septum and functional interaction with gyrase A might suggest a mechanism that could explain PprA role in genome segregation possibly through topoisomerase II.     

Role of proline and leaf expansion rate in the recovery of stressed white clover leaves with increased phosphorus concentration

Osmotic adjustment (OA) and increased cell-wall extensibility required for expansive leaf growth are well defined components of adaptation to water stress in dry soil, which might interact with soil phosphorus (P) concentration and defoliation frequency for intensively grazed white clover in legume-based pastures. Experiments were conducted with frequently and infrequently defoliated mini-swards of white clover growing in dry soil with low and high P concentrations. The higher yielding high-P plants were able to dry the soil to greater soil water suctions; their leaves had lower water potential values, yet they showed fewer water stress symptoms and underwent a more complete recovery from the water stress symptoms on rewatering, than the low-P plants. High- P plants had greater OA, proline concentration and leaf expansion rate. On the other hand, low-P plants showed an increased osmotic concentration when there was no change in the total solute content per unit of leaf d. wt, indicating more loss of water from the leaf tissue. The key measures that appeared to be directly associated with plant recovery over a short period following water stress were increased proline concentration and leaf expansion rate, probably resulting from increased cell-wall extensibility rather than increased production of cells for the high-P plants.